Equine Emergencies by Dr. Crystal Lee
Performance Horse Competition Preparation: Screening Radiographs for Prospects
Late winter/early spring is the time of year when those of us with the competitive urge start planning for the upcoming season of competitions. Top of mind is generally conditioning, schedule planning, and diet to ensure our horses are in peak performance shape come spring. But let’s not forget about the importance of addressing our horses from the inside out to make sure that there aren’t underlying issues that are going to rear their ugly head once competition season arrives. As many of you know, Dr. Penttila competes at a high level on her barrel horse so we’re going to share with you some tips and tricks from our veterinary team on how we keeps her horses in top form. In this blog post we’re going to explore the reasons why to consider taking radiographs of your young horses before they start into training.
The primary reason to take these radiographs in long yearlings and two year olds is to know what’s there before that horse starts using its joints to train. If you have an OCD chip or a stifle cyst, and you don’t find out until the horse is 60 days into training and starting to have some joint swelling or lameness, that’s 60 days of time and money that you could have used more wisely. As well, it’s 60 days of increased inflammation in that joint that will predispose the horse to more arthritis down the road.
In addition, there may be other findings that will guide treatment on screening radiographs; if the horse has juvenile osteoarthritis starting in its lower hock joints, for example, it may really benefit from ProStride or other regenerative treatments in those joints in its early career.
OCD (osteochondritis dissecans) is most common in the hocks, followed by the stifles. It’s these joints that we will most commonly radiograph for screening purposes in young horses. OCD is also quite common in the fetlocks and can be found in other joints too. Technically, it is a failure of the bone to form properly in these joints. In practicality, it often means a chip fragment in the joint, acting like a small piece of gravel in between as the joint moves, causing trauma to the cartilage and inflammation to the joint. Arthroscopic surgery is the mainstay of treatment for these horses. It involves small incisions to go in with a camera, remove the fragments, and clean up the joint. Usually horses can be back in training within 60 days.
Stifle cysts (subchondral cystic lesions of the stifle) are another way that bone can fail to form properly in a young horse. Lameness will often start as the horse is brought into work, but can also manifest later in life. Surgical placement of a screw across the cyst encourages this cyst to fill in with bone and heal. Usually horses can be back in training within 90-120 days.
Both of these types of surgeries are best done before the horse is missing any training days, and before the joint has taken any true work. They have a good to excellent prognosis for the horse to go forward in an athletic career.
Performance Horse Competition Preparation: Respiratory Health and BALs
Late winter/early spring is the time of year when those of us with the competitive urge start planning for the upcoming season of competitions. Top of mind is generally conditioning, schedule planning, and diet to ensure our horses are in peak performance shape come spring. But let’s not forget about the importance of addressing our horses from the inside out to make sure that there aren’t underlying issues that are going to rear their ugly head once competition season arrives. As many of you know, Dr. Penttila competes at a high level on her barrel horse so we’re going to share with you some tips and tricks from our veterinary team on how we keeps her horses in top form. In this post we will discuss our horses’ respiratory health!
Similar to all mammals, the respiratory system is the location of oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange from the air to the blood cell which then provides oxygen to the cells for cellular metabolism and performance during exercise. The difference is the horse’s respiratory system is adapted to make them super athletes with a HUGE capacity for oxygen exchange that is in excess of even animals of similar size. At rest, the horse’s ventilation rate is approximately 80L of air per minute but with exercise this can increase by a staggering 10-fold to 1,800L of air per minute! This provides them with an extraordinary capacity for oxygen exchange that provides the basis for their superior endurance and speed which makes them such fantastic athletes. However, you can imagine that with this system being so important, even a small amount of inflammation or disease can have a big effect on their performance.
Like all animals, horses can be affected by infectious respiratory disease that may cause anything from a slight cold or flu to more extensive pneumonia. While not 100% protective, early season vaccination for the most common respiratory diseases (equine herpes or rhino virus, influenza virus, and strangles) can help to reduce the incidence of infection and the severity if it occurs. Decreasing disease severity is a huge part of helping keep these horses performing because for every day of fever, they typically require at least a week of rest for return to prior exercise performance level.
Figure 1: Horses have very large airway capacity with an average of 55L of capacity at any given time, but respiratory disease such as Exercise Induced Pulmonary Hemorrhage (as seen on the right here) can significantly reduce their respiratory capacity, function, and general performance.
Alternatively, horses can also suffer from non-infectious respiratory disease. This can be divided into upper respiratory tract dysfunction (e.g. Roarer’s) or lower respiratory inflammatory disease (e.g. Equine Asthma or Bleeders). Typically horses with upper respiratory tract dysfunction will have poor performance that is associated with noise during exercise. These conditions usually come from some sort of nerve dysfunction in the upper airway where part of the airway collapses either at rest or during exercise limiting oxygen intake. They can be diagnosed by upper respiratory tract endoscopy, either at rest or during exercise with a dynamic scope. Depending on the type of condition identified, treatment may then consist of surgery or some other intervention to correct the noted abnormality.
Lower respiratory tract conditions can be harder to notice. In mild cases of equine asthma or exercise induced pulmonary hemorrhage (EIPH or Bleeders), there may be no significant clinical signs other than decreased performance. In cases of moderate disease, we may notice coughing during/after exercise, delayed recovery time or heavy breathing during/after exercise, occasional nasal discharge, or nose bleeds. Diagnosis of these conditions may also include an upper respiratory tract endoscopy but also will likely include a bronchoalveolar lavage or BAL procedure. This procedure is done under standing sedation and a tube is introduced into the airway to wash a small amount of cells from the lungs that are then submitted to a laboratory to diagnose the type of inflammation present and identify any evidence of past bleeding or hemorrhage. Once the report is received, we can then provide a unique and targeted treatment plan for that horse to help address the noted inflammation and facilitate any medication or management changes needed to help get that horse back to their top respiratory function and performance!
Figure 2: An upper respiratory tract endoscopy and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) being performed in a horse under standing sedation to identify potential respiratory disease.
Lower respiratory tract conditions can be harder to notice. In mild cases of equine asthma or exercise induced pulmonary hemorrhage (EIPH or Bleeders), there may be no significant clinical signs other than decreased performance. In cases of moderate disease, we may notice coughing during/after exercise, delayed recovery time or heavy breathing during/after exercise, occasional nasal discharge, or nose bleeds. Diagnosis of these conditions may also include an upper respiratory tract endoscopy but also will likely include a bronchoalveolar lavage or BAL procedure. This procedure is done under standing sedation and a tube is introduced into the airway to wash a small amount of cells from the lungs that are then submitted to a laboratory to diagnose the type of inflammation present and identify any evidence of past bleeding or hemorrhage. Once the report is received, we can then provide a unique and targeted treatment plan for that horse to help address the noted inflammation and facilitate any medication or management changes needed to help get that horse back to their top respiratory function and performance!
Figure 3: Horses with equine asthma may be treated with a specially designed equine inhaler to help reduce airway inflammation and encourage return to performance.
If you are interested in equine respiratory health or think your horse may be affected by one of these conditions stay tuned for an exciting event to come at Burwash that will provide a deeper dive into the horse’s respiratory health and function and a live demonstration of the above described procedures! In the meantime, don’t hesitate to contact us if you have specific concerns that we can help address for your horse going into performance season.
Performance Horse Competition Preparation: Optimize Performance from the Inside Out
Late winter/early spring is the time of year when those of us with the competitive urge start planning for the upcoming season of competitions. Top of mind is generally conditioning, schedule planning, and diet to ensure our horses are in peak performance shape come spring. But let’s not forget about the importance of addressing our horses from the inside out to make sure that there aren’t underlying issues that are going to rear their ugly head once competition season arrives. As many of you know, Dr. Penttila competes at a high level on her barrel horse so we’re going to share with you some tips and tricks from our veterinary team on how we keeps her horses in top form. In this post, we’re going to dive into the daunting world of nutrition and supplements specific for the athletic horse.
The cardinal rule of feeding a performance horse is making sure that they have free choice access to a good quality hay; we generally recommend a grass/alfalfa mix, unless there is a reason your particular horse needs a different kind of hay. If you happen to have the type of horse that is more of an easy-keeper, feeding frequent, smaller meals throughout the day would be a better strategy.
For many horses in heavy work, their energy demands may be higher than what they can get out of hay. For these horses, we would generally recommend adding in a concentrate of some sort. We try to pick a reputable feed company and then select the feed that is suitable for that particular horse. Purina Canada has a great feed selection tool on their website that can help you decide what would work best for your horse based on energy demands/workload and body type (see here: https://equipurina.ca/en/decision/).
Next, we think about a product that has the ideal formulation of vitamins, minerals, and amino acids for horses in work. Our favorite product for this is Platinum Performance. You can always tell when a horse is on this formula as they are well-muscled and have such a shiny, healthy haircoat. We think of this like the “pre-workout” or “protein shake” portion of the diet of many human athletes.
From there, we tend to choose products that are targeted towards the individual concerns of each athlete. Here are a few of our favorites and when we reach for them:
Platinum Balance: This is a prebiotic/probiotic designed to support digestion and hindgut health. It can be helpful for those horses that travel a lot and don’t have a consistent feeding regime, or those that tend to have a sensitive tummy or have trouble maintaining their weight.
4Cyte: This product is a breakthrough joint support formula that helps protect, maintain, and promote healthy joints. It enables your horse to perform at its peak, while safeguarding its joints.
Rite Trac by KER: This supplement is designed to support total digestive tract health by acting as a buffer in both the stomach and the hindgut. It is one of our go to’s for managing horses with ulcers, loose manure, a poor appetite, and/or weight loss.
Aleira by Arenus: This formula helps maintain optimal respiratory function with key ingredients such as omega-3s in the form of algae-based DHA, vitamin C, and antioxidants. We reach for this supplement in horses with asthma and in bleeders.
KER Race Recovery Electrolytes: This product is a must-have for any horse that runs on Lasix. It is specifically formulated to replace the electrolytes lost in these patients at the time of treatment/racing.
Platinum Healthy Weight: This is a flax oil top dressing that is rich in omega 3 fatty acids, making it a good choice for horses with allergic skin or respiratory conditions. It is a healthy alternative to corn oil for adding fat to the diet of horses that need to gain weight.
These recommendations are all to give you some food for thought and won’t be appropriate to each and every horse. To dial in the most appropriate feeding plan for your particular horse, we always recommend having a discussion with one of our veterinarians, especially if they have a specific medical concern.
See this section of our webpage for more info about the supplements we stand behind:
https://www.burwashequine.ca/supplements
You can also order many of these supplements directly to your house or for clinic pick up using our online store at the following link: https://burwashequine.clientvantage.ca/supplements
Performance Horse Competition Preparation: Dental Examination and Vaccine Schedule
Late winter/early spring is the time of year when those of us with the competitive urge start planning for the upcoming season of competitions. Top of mind is generally conditioning, schedule planning, and diet to ensure our horses are in peak performance shape come spring. But let’s not forget about the importance of addressing our horses from the inside out to make sure that there aren’t underlying issues that are going to rear their ugly head once competition season arrives. As many of you know, Dr. Penttila competes at a high level on her barrel horse so we’re going to share with you some tips and tricks from our veterinary team on how we keeps her horses in top form. In this post, we are going to discuss the importance of having routine dental procedures for our performance horses and our recommended vaccine schedule.
Dental Examinations
A dental examination and float is a critical part of preventative medicine and helps to keep our performance horses comfortable and responsive in the bit. Sharp enamel points on their teeth can cause severe cheek and tongue ulcers if not addressed on a routine basis. If they have large excess transverse ridges, hooks or ramps present, it can prevent them from collecting appropriately or moving their heads freely. Any restriction in movement or pain can stop horses from performing at their best. Horses are prey animals, which means that they are often very stoic and may not give any obvious indications of their discomfort. Oral exams also allow us to identify any issues, such as fractured teeth, so they can be addressed before they affect performance or weight. Finally, regular dental maintenance ensures that our equine partners are able to adequately digest the feed that fuels them during the performance season.
Vaccination Schedule
We recommend that performance horses be covered annually for both the core diseases carried in the soil/by mosquitos and the airborne diseases transmitted between horses. The best time of year to vaccinate your horses is in the springtime, prior to the start of the mosquito season. The seven main diseases that your performance horse should be covered for are:
Eastern Encephalitis Virus (EEV)
Western Encephalitis Virus (WEV)
Tetanus Virus
West Nile Virus (WVV)
Equine Influenza Virus (EIV, also known as Equine Flu)
Equine Herpes Virus 1 and 4 (EHV, also known as Rhinopneumonitis)
Strangles
We would also consider Rabies a core vaccine for any horse that travels a lot.
These diseases often have very significant financial, performance, and emotional consequences if your horse contracts them. Luckily, the harmful effects of these infections can be prevented or reduced by vaccinating your horse appropriately. For maximal protection against EIV/EHV, consider boostering your horse for these diseases at 6 months following the annual vaccinations.
Since some horses can be sore and a bit under the weather for a day or two after vaccines as their body responds to the vaccine, we generally recommend doing vaccines and dental procedures in the same annual spring herd health visit at least two weeks prior to the first competition.
See some of our other posts for more information regarding dentistry and vaccination: https://www.burwashequine.ca/blog/2014/4/25/a-guide-to-equine-dental-care
https://www.burwashequine.ca/blog/2015/4/2/vaccination-faq-what-are-common-side-effects-of-vaccination-what-can-i-expect-after-my-horse-is-vaccinated
Performance Horse Competition Preparation: Your Crystal Ball for Foot Injuries
Late winter/early spring is the time of year when those of us with the competitive urge start planning for the upcoming season of competitions. Top of mind is generally conditioning, schedule planning, and diet to ensure our horses are in peak performance shape come spring. But let’s not forget about the importance of addressing our horses from the inside out to make sure that there aren’t underlying issues that are going to rear their ugly head once competition season arrives. As many of you know, Dr. Penttila competes at a high level on her barrel horse so we’re going to share with you some tips and tricks from our veterinary team on how we keeps her horses in top form. In this post we are going to take a look at shoeing survey films (or screening podiatry radiographs as we refer to them) and how they can be the crystal ball you need for predicting and preventing foot injuries.
You’ve likely all heard the saying “No foot, no horse” - in our experience, no truer words have ever been spoken. That’s why we think it is so important to know what is going on in your horses’ feet so that we can make any necessary adjustments to their trimming and shoeing to help prevent injuries and soreness.
When we take a set of podiatry radiographs, we generally shoot 2 views of each foot that are specific for evaluating the foot from a podiatry standpoint. These x-rays allow us to measure key details about the foot that can be used to make adjustments to the way they are shod. We can evaluate foot and joint balance, bone angles, sole depth, and determine if the foot is being loaded appropriately.
Figure 1: This figure shows a cutting horse with a very common shoeing concern where the shoe is not well balanced around the center of rotation from toe to heel, leaving too much foot in front of the center of rotation compared to behind. This leads to increased load on the heel and navicular region and a prolonged breakover phase, causing unnecessary stress on the structures in the foot.
Figure 2: In this figure, we see another common foot concern. This jumping horse has a long toe and heels that have run forward, creating a broken back hoof pastern axis. This can result in increased stress on the joints of the lower limb and lead to early signs of osteoarthritis such as bone spurs as seen here.
Dr. Penttila takes shoeing survey films on her good mare, Chic, and all her prospects at least twice a year. This has allowed her to make timely changes and intervene when needed to ensure their foot balance and loads remain ideal.
See this section of our webpage for more info about shoeing survey films:
https://www.burwashequine.ca/podiatry
Performance Horse Competition Preparation: Regenerative Laser Therapy
Late winter/early spring is the time of year when those of us with the competitive urge start planning for the upcoming season of competitions. Top of mind is generally conditioning, schedule planning, and diet to ensure our horses are in peak performance shape come spring. But let’s not forget about the importance of addressing our horses from the inside out to make sure that there aren’t underlying issues that are going to rear their ugly head once competition season arrives. As many of you know, Dr. Penttila competes at a high level on her barrel horse so we’re going to share with you some tips and tricks from our veterinary team on how we keeps her horses in top form. In today’s blog post we’re going to explore the benefits of the Smart RLT regenerative laser therapy for our performance horses and how this groundbreaking advancement in equine healthcare holds the promise of enhancing their well-being and performance.
Regenerative Laser Therapy harnesses the power of short, high energy light pulses to stimulate cellular activity and promote healing in horses. This non-invasive and drug-free approach has shown remarkable results in addressing a variety of conditions, ranging from musculoskeletal issues to soft tissue injuries. As advocates for the health and happiness of our equine partners, we believe this therapy is a valuable addition to our equine care toolkit for keeping them in top performance form.
Key Benefits of Regenerative Laser Therapy for Horses:
Accelerated Healing: The therapy stimulates cellular regeneration, accelerating the healing process for injuries and promoting overall tissue health.
Pain Management: By targeting inflamed areas and releasing endorphins, the therapy aids in pain management without the use of pharmaceuticals.
Improved Joint Function: Regenerative Laser Therapy has shown effectiveness in reducing inflammation in joints, contributing to enhanced mobility and flexibility.
Enhanced Performance: Many equestrians have reported improved performance levels in their horses after incorporating regenerative laser treatments into their care routines.
Non-Invasive and Stress-Free: Unlike some traditional treatments, this therapy is non-invasive, stress-free, and well-tolerated by horses, ensuring a positive experience for both the horses and their humans.
Specific Issues that respond well to laser therapy include soft tissue injuries (both in the healing phase and as a maintenance treatment to help prevent the injury from recurring); joint pain; neck, back or SI pain; sore feet and navicular disease, and wound healing or scratches treatment.
See this section of our webpage for more info about laser treatment packages: https://www.burwashequine.ca/regenerative-laser-therapy
Performance Horse Competition Preparation: Joint Care
Late winter/early spring is the time of year when those of us with the competitive urge start planning for the upcoming season of competitions. Top of mind is generally conditioning, schedule planning, and diet to ensure our horses are in peak performance shape come spring. But let’s not forget about the importance of addressing our horses from the inside out to make sure that there aren’t underlying issues that are going to rear their ugly head once competition season arrives. As many of you know, Dr. Penttila competes at a high level on her barrel horse so we’re going to share with you some tips and tricks from our veterinary team on how we keeps her horses in top form. Today we are focusing on joint therapies.
One of the most common conditions effecting soundness and performance lifespan of horses is osteoarthritis (OA) with some reports suggesting over 60% of lameness issues in horses are attributable to OA. OA is a slow, progressive disease of the joint that include damage to not just the bone but also the cartilage and soft tissue structures including joint capsule and supporting ligaments. It does not affect all horses equally with genetics, environment, diet, and type of stress/strain on the joint all playing a role in both the progression and severity of the disease. Once started, OA cannot be reversed and so instead we are limited to management to try and slow progression of the disease and treat inflammation when it occurs. The good news is that advances in veterinary diagnosis and management of OA allow us to identify OA earlier and support our patients and clients with more advanced treatments before the disease has limiting effects on performance.
OA may be suspected on your pre-season soundness exam based on the presence of heat, swelling, lameness or gait asymmetry, excess joint fluid, decreased range of motion, or response to flexions. Diagnosis may be aided with joint blocks and imaging to classify the specific joints affected and the severity of the disease present. If your horse is diagnosed with OA, your veterinarian can help you come up with a multimodal treatment plan for OA that may include therapeutic farriery, diet, regular exercise in a structured program balanced with rest, stretching/physiotherapy, or other supportive modalities such as massage, laser, chiropractic, or acupuncture.
In addition to above, there are a variety of joint support medications that can be added to your horse’s management to help prevent worsening disease and relieve clinical signs such as lameness. One mainstay of OA treatment for decades has been non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as phenylbutzone (Bute) or firocoxib (Previcox or Prevequine). These drugs can be used for their anti-inflammatory and pain control affects and while excellent at relieving the clinical signs of OA they do little to slow or reverse the disease process and come with risk of side effects such as gastric ulcers, colitis, and kidney injury. Alternatively, we can now reach for more directed treatments with potentially fewer side effects earlier in the disease process to help slow down progress of OA before it is a problem.
In addition to above, there are a variety of joint support medications that can be added to your horse’s management to help prevent worsening disease and relieve clinical signs such as lameness. One mainstay of OA treatment for decades has been non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as phenylbutzone (Bute) or firocoxib (Previcox or Prevequine). These drugs can be used for their anti-inflammatory and pain control affects and while excellent at relieving the clinical signs of OA they do little to slow or reverse the disease process and come with risk of side effects such as gastric ulcers, colitis, and kidney injury. Alternatively, we can now reach for more directed treatments with potentially fewer side effects earlier in the disease process to help slow down progress of OA before it is a problem.
Systemic options are divided into oral joint supplements and systemic injectable medications. Oral joint supplements such as 4Cyte will be covered in another feature but in brief they may help to decrease the progression of joint disease by disrupting the local inflammatory effects of OA. Systemically administered joint therapies such as hyaluronic acid (e.g. Legend), polysulfated glycosaminoglycans (e.g. Adequan), or pentosan (e.g. Zycosan only available in the USA) have few side effects and are designed to promote a healthy joint environment. They are given either in the vein or muscle in a series of injections with the aim of helping to prevent progression and/or treat existing joint disease. While similar, they have different mechanism of action and either or both may be used depending on your horse’s specific condition.
Figure 1: Legend or Adequan are systemic joint therapies that can provide effects to all the joints in a horse through a series of intravenous or intramuscular injections.
More directed treatment of OA includes intra-articular (IA) treatment or “joint injections”. When a specific joint is affected, a joint injection may be recommended to help provide directed treatment. The gold-standard of IA treatment for years has been with corticosteroids +/- a joint lubricant such as hyaluronic acid with the aim of administering a strong anti-inflammatory medication directly into the affected joint space. Corticosteroids are proven to have strong effect and are generally affordable but have the risk of becoming less effective overtime. In addition, certain steroids may be associated with undesirable side effects including cartilage degeneration or laminitis. As technology has advanced and our understanding of joint disease has increased, alternative joint medications have come onto the market that offer anti-inflammatory effects while targeting specific components of joint health. One such medication is polyacrimalyde gels (PAG) (e.g. Noltrex or Arthramid). PAGs are hydrogels that lubricate the joint by coating and binding the cartilage layer and synovial membrane to reduce friction and cushion the joint. Though PAGs do not have anti-inflammatory effects, they can be very effective when combined with other anti-inflammatory treatments such as steroids or biologic regenerative medications.
Figure 2: Steroids with hyaluronic acid have been a mainstay of joint treatment for years but can come with risk of side effects such as cartilage degeneration or laminitis.
Figure 3: Noltrex is a polyacrylamide gel that coats the cartilage and provides a cushion within the joint space preventing the pain associated with bone-on-bone contact that comes in later stage joint disease.
Regenerative medications are now the forefront of OA treatment and management. These products utilize the horse’s own stem cell or blood-derived anti-inflammatory mechanisms to alleviate inflammation and improve joint health. There are generally divided into plasma based products and cellular products.
Plasma based products include products such as IRAP or Alpha2EQ. These products concentrate anti-inflammatory proteins present in the horse’s blood serum into a product that can then be frozen and injected into a joint multiple times to help provide similar if not superior anti-inflammatory effects to steroids without the concern for cartilage degeneration or laminitis.
RenoVo and other amnion derived products provide a similar anti-inflammatory protein profile to our plasma products but are can be purchased off the shelf and are commercially made with amnion from horses other than the one being treated.
Cellular based products generally include some form of platelet rich plasma (PRP) or stem cell. These products generally cannot be frozen and used again in the future, but do often come with the option of treatment on the same day as sampling.
PRP (e.g. Restigen) contains platelet derived growth factors which can help with not only inflammation but actually promoting a regenerative healing environment within the joint that goes beyond what we are able to provide with steroids or plasma products alone. It is more commonly used for soft tissue injuries such as tendinitis but can also be used in joints.
Autologous Protein Solution (e.g. Pro-Stride) is one commercially available product that combines both PRP and the anti-inflammatory proteins of plasma (including IRAP) into a single product that provides highly concentrated anti-inflammatory and regenerative effects. The outcome is often improved clinical signs which last longer than when treated with steroid alone.
Stem cells or bone marrow aspirate concentrate can also be used for treatment of joint disease where a more significant injury has occurred such as a soft tissue or meniscal injury. These products provide highly concentrated growth factors and stimulate the body to promote healing within the structure beyond what we can see with PRP or plasma products alone.
Figure 4: Plasma based joint therapies such as IRAP contain anti-inflammatory proteins from the horse’s own blood that are concentrated down into a series of small doses that can be frozen and for future use.
Figure 5: Cellular based joint therapies such as Pro-Stride provide the excellent anti-inflammatory effects seen with our plasma based products but with the addition of platelet derived growth factors that promote regeneration within the joint.
As mentioned above, OA management is often best approached with a multimodal plan that combines some combination of the above described options. With these advances in diagnosis and treatment, we can target OA in horses sooner and prevent signs of disease such as lameness before they become performance limiting! This allows you and your horse to continue to perform your best for years to come, extending their athletic lifetime. For more information on what joint treatments might be right for your horse, don’t hesitate to reach out for a soundness exam and consult early in the season before the effects of joint disease might be limiting your performance.
For more information on regenerative medications used in joint disease, our own Dr. Katy White gave a lecture on the science behind these products and their uses at our Fall Client Seminar last fall which can be found on our Youtube channel.
As always, don’t hesitate to contact us if you have more questions!
Performance Horse Competition Preparation: Soundness Checks
Late winter/early spring is the time of year when those of us with the competitive urge start planning for the upcoming season of competitions. Top of mind is generally conditioning, schedule planning, and diet to ensure our horses are in peak performance shape come spring. But let’s not forget about the importance of addressing our horses from the inside out to make sure that there aren’t underlying issues that are going to rear their ugly head once competition season arrives. As many of you know, Dr. Penttila competes at a high level on her barrel horse so we’re going to share with you some tips and tricks from our veterinary team on how we keeps her horses in top form. In this post, we will be focusing on soundness exams and the benefits of frequent, objective examinations to help identify potential causes of lameness before they become a serious problem for your horse.
Booking your horse in for a “Lameness Exam” when they are not lame may seem counter-intuitive but has some real benefits for setting you and your horse up for success in their competitive season. Re-framing this exam as more of a “Soundness Exam” can be helpful in defining that our aim should be to help maintain soundness and prevent lameness before it is causing any issues. The benefit of pre-season soundness exams and mid-season check-ups cannot be understated. Our examinations include a thorough assessment of your horse from tip of the nose to the tail and they can help to identify any underlying stiffness, soreness, or asymmetry that may predispose your horse to a more serious lameness issue down the line. Just like vaccinating your horse for tetanus before they have a wound will help to prevent serious disease, a soundness exam as part of their preventative health maintenance will ensure that we are addressing any small musculoskeletal issues before they cause lameness to keep your horse performing their best. A pre-season soundness exam may include the following:
Assessment of conformation: Certain conformation abnormalities can predispose your horse to hoof defects, soft tissue injuries, or joint disease. Identification of these abnormalities and their severity early on can be beneficial to limit effects down the line.
Musculoskeletal palpation – static & dynamic: Areas of stiffness or soreness, even slight swelling/heat, or decreased range of motion can be clues that a joint or soft tissue is affected by some disease or pathology before it is causing lameness. Early detection can often mean that we are treating with less invasive therapies before more extreme interventions are required.
Dynamic examination – A dynamic motion exam of your horse at each gait and on different surfaces (hard ground versus soft ground) can reveal even slight asymmetries that can predispose to more serious lameness. We can also utilize the Lameness Locator (an objective gait evaluation tool) to identify asymmetries before they are evident to the human eye, characterize the lameness based on its exact timing within the horse’s stride, and track any subtle changes in motion over time. This type of objective evaluation will give you peace of mind that your horse is moving their best or identify small asymmetries before they become performance limiting lameness.
For more information on the Lameness Locator please visit this section of our website: https://www.burwashequine.ca/lameness-locator
Flexions – Flexion tests are used to help identify areas that are affected by pain and inflammation either before they are causing lameness or after lameness has been noted to help localize the lameness in the limb. The limb is held in a flexed position for a short period of time before assessing the horse trot away. A slight change of gait from which the horse returns to normal right away may not be of significant concern, but any notable change in gait after flexion is likely an indication that we have more significant underlying joint or soft tissue disease present which we can then further assess through imaging, nerve blocks, or treatment trials.
In the process of this thorough assessment of your horse, areas of concern may arise such as: hoof imbalances, muscle stiffness or soreness, “sided-ness” or lack of lateral bend one direction, lack of engagement of the hind end, mild lameness or asymmetry, or lameness only under specific circumstances (after flexion or only on certain surfaces). Based on what is identified, the veterinary team at Burwash Equine Services can then help to create a plan to address any small abnormalities for your performance season which may include potential preventative care including therapeutic farriery, specific stretching/physiotherapy, oral joint supplements, regenerative laser therapy, injectable joint support, or early treatment of joint disease such as joint injections with regenerative medicine therapies like Pro-Stride. We are lucky to work with a team of local equine therapists and farriers who can help to ensure that your “whole horse” is cared for from tip of the nose to tip of the tail and they keep performing their best despite any small issues that may arise. If you are wanting to be best prepared for the competition season before it arrives, a pre-season soundness exam is often the first step in ensuring your horse’s success!
